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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| N.Korean Elite Sniper Defects |
| 2011-11-17 |
| An ex-member of an elite North Korean special warfare unit defected across the West Sea on Oct. 30. He crossed the sea on a raft made of tires, it emerged on Tuesday. Under questioning by the National Intelligence Service, the military and police, the man, who is in his early 30s, said he had been discharged from the marine sniper brigade five years ago and then worked as a civilian member in a military unit. He set out in the raft from South Hwanghae Province in the morning of Oct. 29 and rowed while riding the tidal currents southward. He was spotted by a South Korean Navy ship in waters near Yeonpyeong Island around 3:10 a.m. on Oct. 30. A former North Korean Navy officer who defected earlier said, "Members of the marine sniper brigades undergo more than 20,000 miles (36,000 km) of training at sea on floating tubes. The regular North Korean Navy also get swimming training, but itÂ’s much more rigorous for marine snipers so they withstand longer hours at sea eating only chocolate bars." The marine sniper brigades are among the top special warfare units in the North. According to the 2010 Defense White Paper, the North has two marine sniper brigades with about 12,000 members. Each brigade has about 3,000 combat troops and the remaining 6,000 troops are backup troops, the former North Korean Navy officer said. They are trained to infiltrate South Korea to strike radar facilities and naval bases, destroy ships at anchor, and secure vantage points on the shore using high-speed boats, hovercraft or semi-submersibles. They would be the first to be dispatched to the five northernmost South Korean islands in the West Sea in case the North launches a surprise attack, the South Korean military speculates. The government is trying to find out whether this man actually served in the North Korean marine sniper brigade and why he decided to defect. A government official said, "Many defectors tend to overstate their experience, so we need to question him further." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 I think I saw that guy. Scrawny little Asian dude sitting by overpass wearing scruffy BDUs, chocolate smeared face and a bolt action rifle with a sign saying "WILL DEFECT FOR FOOD"? Yeah, that's him! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2011-11-17 19:08 |
| #3 I don't think they do it all at once, Sam... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-11-17 13:23 |
| #2 20,000 miles???? I'm hoisting the BS flag on this. The earth's circumference is 25,000. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2011-11-17 11:11 |
| #1 Kimmie just calls them snipers. They're not actually long-range marksmen. |
| Posted by: gromky 2011-11-17 10:11 |